Ooh la la

There is much to be critical of when it comes to Continental culture. But one aspect of it I have never felt particularly critical of is that if European women like the way you look, they will make themselves available for that reason alone.

The United States started out as a Puritan nation, and that tradition has never completely died. The way it expresses itself these days is through political correctness, a type of Puritanism no less silly than the original. One form that correctness takes is in the matter of sexual politics. American women have been brainwashed into thinking they should be the same as men, and must act (somewhat) like men. They have also been taught that a man should "respect" them. But exactly what that "respect" entails is a little fuzzy. So they have all sorts of self-serving rules, like having to have a certain amount of money spent on them first.

Wanting some evidence of commitment is something that evolution has programmed women for, but some of the grounds for winning "respect" are simply silly. ("Honey, you may never have accomplished anything in your life, your IQ may be 95, your thinking may be utterly logic-free, and you may be a spoiled little princess, but I really respect you since you waited until the third date to sleep with me.")

And, when you think about it, judging a man on his money-making ability in fact does connote a distinct lack of self-respect, at least for those women who abjure prostitution.

European women can be as pretentious as anybody, but they don't let politics get in the way of their instincts. If they're attracted, they'll go to bed with you. Period. No "respect" required.

Perhaps for that reason, European women also pay more attention to their appearance. They tend to be thinner. (Of course, that may be partly because they tend to smoke more.) They also tend to be more fashionable; grunge never really caught on over there. 

I've observed these differences (from afar) with women from Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, Holland, Spain, Germany and even a couple of former Soviet Socialist Republics (I'm including first generation Americans from all these countries). My experience is limited, but somehow I doubt the Poles and Danes are all that different.

Europeans also tend to take the boundaries of marriage less seriously. In France, it is simply expected that a married man will have a mistress. And if he does, it is no great cause for scandal. (A Monica-gate would never happen over there because an affair would never be considered a significant transgression.)

Prime Minister Berlusconi used to joke with the Italian press about the man his wife was said to be having an affair with. It's hard to imagine an American President doing this.

Back when I was single, in the early Eighties, I saw a thirtyish woman from France for a few weeks. At one point I asked her how many men she had slept with. She said fifty. Most American women would never admit to that many, even if it were true, so I expressed surprise. She then felt obliged to explain: "You have to remember, I was married for a long time."

Conclusion: the Old World may be more degenerate, but that's why it's more fun.